Chronic kidney disease affects one in seven people in our country.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a condition characterized by a significant and progressive decrease in kidney function. CKD is defined as a decrease in kidney function, expressed by an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) or creatinine clearance < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2, or as the presence of persistent kidney damage for at least 3 months.

Kidney damage is usually diagnosed using markers, the main marker of kidney damage is elevated urinary albumin or protein excretion. Within CKD there are various stages that stratify the level of progression of the disease.

Kidney diseases, in general, are known as nephropathies and have a variable evolution:

• Sometimes kidney function is affected quickly, other times little by little.
• Sometimes, there is no cure and the damage continues its course, and in others, the disease is stopped and part, or practically all, of the function of the organs is recovered.

In any of the cases in which the kidney disease is unstoppable, or the injury is very important, the part that remains in operation will decrease and its cleaning work will be insufficient, although the person does not notice it as they are asymptomatic, or have symptoms that are not related to loss of kidney function.

Stages 3-5 constitute what is commonly known as Chronic Kidney Failure (CKD). Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease (ACKD) includes stages 4 and 5. Chronic kidney disease is therefore defined as one that causes a severe decrease in glomerular filtration (GFR < 30 ml/min). ).  Therapeutic objectives are aimed at reducing and treating the complications associated with kidney failure, and preparing adequately, and with sufficient advance notice, the replacement treatment since due to this lack of kidney function (among other consequences, it decreases the quantity and quality of urine) substances not eliminated in the urine will accumulate in the body.

This pathology may not cause pain or discomfort, and in many cases there will be no feeling of illness, even if a large part of kidney function has been lost. However, follow-up work in nephrology consultations can greatly delay the progression of the disease, even stopping it in some processes if action is taken at the beginning.

It is very important that the person who suffers from these problems knows about them and collaborates with the professionals in charge of their care. During this follow-up period, the nephrology consultation will control all the risk factors that can be modified, the diseases that may appear, the medications that impair kidney function, the foods that are recommended and those that are not, etc.

Symptoms

Some of the symptoms that may appear when kidney function decreases are:

• The kidneys will stop making urine and if they make it, it will become increasingly clearer since the toxic substances will not be eliminated from our body (they remain in the blood).
• Accumulation of fluids and waste in the body, which will cause general discomfort.
• Increased nighttime urination.
• Feeling of tiredness and, in cases of also having anemia, pale skin color.
• Lack of appetite and sometimes nausea and vomiting.
• High blood pressure.
• You may have a fever without another cause.

If CKD progresses, more symptoms may appear such as:

• Itchy skin.
• Tingling and cramps, especially in the legs.
• Bone pain.
• Bad breath.
• Straw heat of the skin.

However, we must not forget that, sometimes, the decrease in kidney function is not accompanied by symptoms until very advanced stages of the disease, which is why it is said to be a silent disease, but this does not mean that CKD is not present and does not progress.